Cellular concrete mold

ABSTRACT

An open-topped cellular concrete mold is formed with rigid sides and bottom, except for a detachable sidewall. Two shafts are rotatably mounted on the bottom of the mold, and have support members connected to their extended ends extending radially outwardly therefrom in the area of the detachable sidewall so as to move into engagement with and bear against the detachable sidewall to fasten it to the remainder of the unit when rotated into fastening position by the shafts. The other ends of the shafts are adapted to be grasped by turning members when the mold is moved into an orientation wherein the detachable sidewall is horizontally oriented, whereby the shafts can be rotated to release the detachable sidewall and the mold contents from the remainder of the mold. Wedge shaped members may be formed on the exterior surface of the detachable sidewall to cooperate with the supporting member in fastening the detachable sidewall tightly.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Per-Erik Soderlund Saltsjobaden, Sweden [21] Appl. No. 594,322

[22] Filed Nov. 10, 1966 [45] Patented May 11, 1971 [73] Assignee Intong Aktiebolag Hallabrottet, Sweden Continuation of application Ser. No. 377,989, June 25, 1964, now abandoned.

[54] CELLULAR CONCRETE MOLD 3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 25/41, 25/121, 249/137, 249/167 [51] Int. Cl B41b 11/60 Assistant Examiner-John E. Roethel' Att0rneyLarson, Taylor & Hinds ABSTRACT: An open-topped cellular concrete mold; is

formed with rigid sides and bottom, except for a detachable sidewall. Two shafts are rotatably mounted on the bottom of the mold, and have support members connected to their extended ends extending radially outwardly therefrom in the area of the detachable sidewall so as to move into engagement with and bear against the detachable sidewall to fasten it to the remainder of the unit when rotated into fastening position by the shafts. The other ends of the shafts are adapted to be grasped by turning members when the mold is moved into an orientation wherein the detachable sidewall is horizontally oriented, wh'ereby theshafts can be rotated to release the detachable sidewall and the mold contents from the remainder of the mold. Wedge shaped members may beformed on the exterior surface of the detachable sidewall to cooperate with the supporting member in fastening the detachable sidewall tightly.

Patented 11, 1971 3,578,276

Fig. 2

Fig.1

INVENTOR PER-ERIK SODERLUND A TTORNE Y S CELLULARCONCRETE MOLD This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 377,989, filed June 25, 1964, now abandoned.

In producing cellular concrete the concrete forming mass is cast in moulds of the dimensions 50Xl20600 cm. During the casting and the thereafter following aerating of the concrete mass cast the mould is oriented in such a way that a 120x600 cm. wall forms the bottom of the mould. After the aerating the mould with its content is turned over so that it will rest upon one of the former sidewalls; Then the mould content is layed bare and divided into building elements of the dimensions desired.

In order to carry out the laying bare of the mould content as simply as possible, the mould has been made of one firm unit, consisting of a bottom plate, a sidewall and two end walls, and a sidewall detachably connected with the firm unit mentioned. The cellular concrete mass when casting in the mould is quite fluid for whichreason the mould is to be tight. Therefore, the detachable sidewall has been jointed to the firm unit by a number of evenly divided screws.

Within the cellular concrete industry as well as within all other industries one makes an effort to automatize the production process to as large an extent as possible. Owing to the fact that the sidewall has been attached to the firm unit by screws, it has been very difficult to automatize the opening of the mould. In the remaining parts the turning and laying-bare process is automatized.

The present invention relates to a mould, which can be opened and closed very easily be automatic means. The mould consists of a finn unit and a detachable sidewall. Characteristic of the mould is that on the bottom plate of the firm unit are attached at least two movable shafts, which on the outside of the bottom plate are provided with supporting members for the sidewall. The opposite ends of the shafts can be provided with means for turning of the shafts.

An example of a mould according to the invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawing. In order to show how easily the turning of the mould and the removal of the sidewall can be carried out a device for auto- FIG. 1 shows according to the invention hung up in a lift- 7 and turn clamp.

FIG. 2 shows the same mould turned 90 and the sidewall removed from the firm unit.

In sidewall l a mould is shown consisting of a firm unit 10 and a detachable sidewall 11. The sidewall I1 is fixed to the finn unit 10 by two movable shafts 12 mounted in bearings 13 fitted to the mould bottom. On that part of the shaft, which extends outside the bottom plate, supporting members 14 for the sidewall are applied.

In order to get tightness between the sidewall and the firm unit without using too hard locking pressure the sealing surface of the fin'n unit is provided with a gasket of rubber or another similar material. The height of the gasket shall be chosen so that, when the sidewall is placed in its position and locked by the shafts, it is compressed so far that a good tightness is obtained. v

The mould is suspended in a liftand turn clamp 15 by two tumable yokes 16. The yokes are brought into contact with four knobs l7 placed in pairs on the end walls of the mould.

- Further the yokes are tumably mounted on a shaft 18 and affected by air cylinders 19. Two hollow keys are applied on a beam 20 and can be turned at least 90 by air cylinders 22.

The sidewall 11 can be attached to the firm unit in the following way. The sidewall is placed horizontally on a suitable bed, then the firm unit ispIaced on the sidewall whereby the gasket is pressed by the weight 'of the mould to such an extent, that the shafts with the supporting members can be turned into their locking positions (shown in FIG. 1). When, thereafter, the mould is turned 90 and placedwith its greatest bottom surface downwards the sidewall is pressed out against the supporting members by the gasket, whereby a perfect tightness and locking is obtained.

In an automatized mounting of theside'wall by the device which is shown'in the FIGS. 1 'and'Z the firm unit is hung up in the yokes l6 and turned sothat its bottom is perpendicular to the horizontal plane. Thereby, the movable shafts are connected with the hollow keys and turned so that the supporting means 14 are parallel to the bottom of the mould. Thereafter, the firm unit is lowered against the sidewall. When contact is reached with the sidewall, the supporting means 14 are turned automatically into a fixing position, whereafter the whole mould with the sidewall fixed is turned 90 and e.g. placed on a transport truck.

In principle the laying-bare process is carried out in the same way as the assembling of the mould i.e. the yokes are brought into contact with the knobs I7, whereafter the mould is lifted and turned 90". By the turning the hollow keys will come into contact with the means for turning the shaft, which can consist of conical pins of polygon type.

Then the mould is placed on a desired bed and the supporting means 14 are turned until they are mainly parallel with the sidewall. Thereafter, the firm unit can be removed and the mould content divided.

In one embodiment of the mould, the shafts are threaded in shaft of FIG. 2. The lead of the thread is chosen so that the supporting members 14 are displaced so much against thefirm unit during the turning that the sidewall is pressed against this with sufiicient pressure for tightening.

In a further embodiment of the mould, the bottom of the sidewall is provided with two wedge-shaped bends or members 23, against which the supporting members are turned up. The wedge shape is to be chosen so that sufficient locking pressure. is obtained when the supporting'members 14 are placed in their locking positions. It is suitable to give the wedge-shaped bends a bow shape, with a radius mainly the same as thelocking radius of the supporting members.

Further it is possible to use threaded shafts in connection with wedge-shaped bends.

lclaim: l. A cellular concrete mold comprising a firm unit and a detachable sidewall, said firm'unit comprising a bottom plate,

, a sidewall and two end walls rigidly interconnected with each other and immovable relative to each other for forming with said detachable sidewall an open-topped mold for receiving through the open top a fluid cellular concrete forming mix; at least two in correspondingly threaded bearings on the bottom of said bottom plate substantially parallel to said bottom plate and substantially perpendicular to the plane of said detachable sidewall and extending outwardly from said bottom plate in the vicinity of said detachable sidewall; supporting members connected to the extended ends of said rotatable shafts and extending substantially radially outwardly therefrom for moving into engagement with and bearing against said detachable sidewall to fasten it to said firm unitwhen rotated into fastening position and moved toward said detachable sidewall by said shafts, and for completely releasing said detachable sidewall when rotated out of fastening position and moved away from said detachable sidewall by said shafts; the other ends of said'shafts including means adaptedto be grasped by turning members whereby said shafts can be rotated appropriately to fasten and release said detachable sidewall; means for supporting said firm unit andfor selectively orienting it such that the detachable sidewall is vertically or horizontally oriented; and turning members for automatically engaging said other ends of said shafts when said detachable sidewall moves to the horizontally oriented position and rotating said shafts appropriately to fasten or release said detachable sidewall.

2. A mold according to claim 1 wherein the wedge-shaped members are arcuately shaped and have a radius corresponding to the locking radius of said supporting members.

3. A cellular concrete moldcomprising a'firm unit and a a sidewall and two end walls rigidly interconnected with each other and immovable relative to each other for forming with said detachable sidewall an open-topped mold for receiving through the open top of a fluid cellular concrete forming mix; at least two screw-threaded shafts rotatably mounted screwthreaded shafts rotatably mounted in correspondingly threaded bearings on the bottom of said bottom plate substan tially parallel to said bottom plate and substantially perpendicular to the plane of said detachable sidewall and extending outwardly from said bottom plate in the vicinity of said detachable sidewall; supporting members connected to the extended ends of said rotatable shafts and extending substan' tially radially outwardly therefrom for moving into engagement with and bearing against said detachable sidewall to fasten it to said firm unit when rotated into fastening position and moved toward said detachable sidewall by said shafts, and for completely releasing said detachable sidewall when rotated out of fastening positionand moved away from said detachable sidewall by said shafts; wedge-shaped members on the outside surface of said detachable sidewall for cooperating with said support members in forcing said detachable sidewall into tight engagement with said firm unit when said shafts are rotated in a fastening direction; the other end of said shafts including means adapted to be grasped by turning members whereby said shafts can be rotated appropriately to fasten and release said detachable sidewall. i p 1 

1. A cellular concrete mold comprising a firm unit and a detachable sidewall, said firm unit comprising a bottom plate, a sidewall and two end walls rigidly interconnected with each other and immovable relative to each otHer for forming with said detachable sidewall an open-topped mold for receiving through the open top a fluid cellular concrete forming mix; at least two in correspondingly threaded bearings on the bottom of said bottom plate substantially parallel to said bottom plate and substantially perpendicular to the plane of said detachable sidewall and extending outwardly from said bottom plate in the vicinity of said detachable sidewall; supporting members connected to the extended ends of said rotatable shafts and extending substantially radially outwardly therefrom for moving into engagement with and bearing against said detachable sidewall to fasten it to said firm unit when rotated into fastening position and moved toward said detachable sidewall by said shafts, and for completely releasing said detachable sidewall when rotated out of fastening position and moved away from said detachable sidewall by said shafts; the other ends of said shafts including means adapted to be grasped by turning members whereby said shafts can be rotated appropriately to fasten and release said detachable sidewall; means for supporting said firm unit and for selectively orienting it such that the detachable sidewall is vertically or horizontally oriented; and turning members for automatically engaging said other ends of said shafts when said detachable sidewall moves to the horizontally oriented position and rotating said shafts appropriately to fasten or release said detachable sidewall.
 2. A mold according to claim 1 wherein the wedge-shaped members are arcuately shaped and have a radius corresponding to the locking radius of said supporting members.
 3. A cellular concrete mold comprising a firm unit and a detachable sidewall, said firm unit comprising a bottom plate, a sidewall and two end walls rigidly interconnected with each other and immovable relative to each other for forming with said detachable sidewall an open-topped mold for receiving through the open top of a fluid cellular concrete forming mix; at least two screw-threaded shafts rotatably mounted screw-threaded shafts rotatably mounted in correspondingly threaded bearings on the bottom of said bottom plate substantially parallel to said bottom plate and substantially perpendicular to the plane of said detachable sidewall and extending outwardly from said bottom plate in the vicinity of said detachable sidewall; supporting members connected to the extended ends of said rotatable shafts and extending substantially radially outwardly therefrom for moving into engagement with and bearing against said detachable sidewall to fasten it to said firm unit when rotated into fastening position and moved toward said detachable sidewall by said shafts, and for completely releasing said detachable sidewall when rotated out of fastening position and moved away from said detachable sidewall by said shafts; wedge-shaped members on the outside surface of said detachable sidewall for cooperating with said support members in forcing said detachable sidewall into tight engagement with said firm unit when said shafts are rotated in a fastening direction; the other end of said shafts including means adapted to be grasped by turning members whereby said shafts can be rotated appropriately to fasten and release said detachable sidewall. 